2015 Top Five Data Center Trends

It’s a new year and we have already heard plenty of buzz around what technology will look like in 2015. As the conversations continue to circulate between IT companies and Datacenter Providers, it appears we have some differing opinions on what is to emerge in the New Year. Although there are many predictions on what will increase and what will decrease in popularity, some areas of the industry have brought about an increased chatter among the experts. In this article, we walk though the top five up-and-coming themes predicted to take place in 2015. They include trends in cloud, virtualization, internet of things (IoT), and the size of the industry.

2015 in the Cloud

We could easily write an entire article based solely on the future of the cloud. However, we will stick to a basic summary. As you probably already know the cloud is growing rapidly and is quickly evolving into a standard in every IT organization. In fact, cloud data center traffic is predicted to increase at a rate 4X faster than traditional data center traffic. With this in mind, it is also predicted that there will be a greater desire for hybrid cloud solutions as organizations begin to find balance in their computing environments. In fact, according to the 2nd watch survey, the private cloud is one of the least popular IT trends predicted in 2015. Although private clouds have much to offer in terms of speed, security, and software licensing it can become quite costly. Hybrid clouds on the other hand, will allow companies to utilize the option of a private cloud for mission critical information while simultaneously utilizing the public cloud for non-critical information. This solution saves money and makes data storage easier to manage.

Virtualization

Watch out people, Virtualization is going viral! This year will be all about removing the boundaries and getting virtual. Although the concept of virtualization began in the 1960s, its popularity goes hand in hand with the cloud. As the cloud becomes main stream, virtualization will also.

Virtualization offers many fundamental advances for data center platforms. With the right platform being used companies can reduce costs, respond quickly to needs and take on the challenges of big data and mobility. To handle these demands, you need a flexible and durable infrastructure that is easy to manage which is exactly where virtualization will continue to stand out in 2015. Besides being strong yet flexible, virtualization can reduce the costs by improving the methods used for power and cooling in the facility as well as simplifying administration and maintenance procedures. According to Upsite Technologies, there will be an expansion into virtual desktop infrastructure as well as improvements in security in 2015. This will directly increase the desire for virtualization.

Automation

With cost savings and incentives that are given to companies that move towards a data center environment, organizations of all sizes are looking at colocation options. As a result in this growth in data center popularity a growth around automation will also be created. Many believe that automation is the up and coming way to manage infrastructure and something that has been seen coming from a mile away.

This year, through the use of automation, companies will be able to do more with less – freeing up resources and budgets to spend in other areas of IT. Companies will now be able to take normal things that would have typically been someone’s job to manage and cut costs by using software to manage it. Vendors such as Cisco, BMC and HP have all released data center and network automation products in the past few months and each of these solutions are designed to help perform routine data center tasks. According to BMC, data center automation solutions should manage all servers, enable cloud computing, patch servers according to policy, audit live configurations and ensure configuration alignment between development, testing and production.

The Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) will remain one of the top hyped topics in 2015. The impacts of IoT will not only impact data centers in big way but will impact society as well. According to Michael Hay and informationweek.com, IoT will begin to drive real value for businesses as well as the public in 2015. As you look around you, you will begin to notice that more and more devices are becoming connected to the internet. Our wrist watches, our cars and even street lights are now being connected to networks. Michael goes on to explain that in 2014 he believes that though IoT was a common discussion in 2015 it will be a common experience. According to Gartner analyst David Cearley “IoT has enormous potential to deliver value to businesses, even small sensors that can detect problems in equipment before failure occurs, can save a business thousands of dollars.”

Industry Measurements: Size will Matter

Although the popular saying states that “bigger is better” – in 2015 many believe that smaller is the next big thing. From a space density perspective, this year information will be denser. You will be able to put a lot more information into a smaller amount of space. How you may ask? As the year goes on modular data centers will continue to heat up the industry as an alternative to large scale traditional data centers. According to Wikipedia, a Modular Data center is a portable Method of deploying Data center capacity. In other words, it is a datacenter that can be placed where ever data is needed. This brings convenience to interested companies. In addition, server virtualization also offers interested companies the ability to have a smaller footprint in 2015.

Companies will be utilizing different resources to create sustainable energy and continue in their “Green” Initiatives. This will help organizations save money as well as assist in decreasing single points of failure, which is always a good thing.

As this was just created to be a small list of popular up and coming trends in 2015 – the list is seemingly endless about what will dominate the industry this year. What do you think will make the top of the list? Let us know – We would love to hear from you!

Bringing in the New Year in the Datacenter Industry. 2015 should be a great year!